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Mexico deports Pakistani man suspected by U.S. authorities of weapons trafficking
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/16/news/state/22_03_...
By: MARK STEVENSON
June 15, 2005
MEXICO CITY -- Authorities near the border city of Tijuana detained and deported a Pakistani man who is under investigation by U.S. prosecutors for
alleged weapons trafficking, and U.S. police took him into custody Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Pakistani citizen Arif Durrani was detained as he left a restaurant in Playas de Rosarito, near Tijuana, by Mexican police acting on information from
U.S. authorities, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement.
Durrani was deported by Mexico on a flight to his native Pakistan. But he was taken into U.S. custody during a layover in Los Angeles, said U.S.
consular spokeswoman Liza Davis in Tijuana.
Another U.S. official speaking on customary condition of anonymity confirmed that Durrani was currently the target of an ongoing arms trafficking
investigation.
Durrani was convicted in the United States in 1987 of selling missile parts to Iran; a former U.S. resident, he was deported from the United States in
1998, and has apparently lived in Mexico since then.
It was not clear if that investigation was related to Durrani's prior conviction, in which he claimed to have acted as part of the Iran-Contra
scandal.
U.S. officials refused to divulge specific details of the current investigation; the Mexican statement said "Durrani faces an arrest warrant in the
United States for trafficking in anti-aircraft missiles."
Durrani who was deported in 1998 after serving a five-year U.S. prison sentence for violating the Arms Export Control Act for selling anti-aircraft
missile parts to Iran.
In 2003, Durrani petitioned a U.S. court to have his conviction overturned, and asked to review more government documents in an attempt to prove he
sold the parts at the behest of former Lt. Col. Oliver North and other U.S. officials.
Durrani claims he was part of the U.S. effort to exchange arms for American hostages held in Lebanon. He said North, a former National Security
Council aide, told him to ship the missile parts to Iran and not to worry about getting an export license.
Mexican authorities said Durrani was detained earlier this week along with three Afghan-born men and a Syrian, all of whom apparently entered Tijuana
from the United States.
The five were picked up as federal police and soldiers were deployed over the weekend to reinforce local police struggling against a surge in violence
linked to drug gangs along the Mexico side of the U.S. border.
None of the five had a Mexican tourist visa, and all were considered to be in the country without permission.
The Afghans and the Syrian are all U.S. citizens or residents and all were deported to the United States Wednesday; none of them faces any charges or
apparently any ongoing investigation there.
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Dave
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Durrani has a furniture factory and restaurant in Rosarito. He is also the majority owner of a winery in Santo Tomas.
I knew this was going to happen, I just didn't expect it this soon.
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Sharksbaja
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whoa
I'll bet his friends will be on a list now. One thing is for sure, the Feds ARE sharing vital info.
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Dave
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Sharksbaja
I'll bet his friends will be on a list now. One thing is for sure, the Feds ARE sharing vital info. |
Mexico didn't get their info from the Feds, instead they shared their info with the U.S.
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Anonymous
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Missile trafficker faces arraignment in L.A.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050616-1315-bn16m...
By Gregory Alan Gross and Debbi Farr Baker
June 16, 2005
ROSARITO BEACH ? A Pakistani national once convicted in the United States of selling missile parts to Iran was arrested in this beach town and
deported to Pakistan, only to be arrested by U.S. officials when his flight stopped in Los Angeles.
He is to be arraigned this afternoon in Los Angeles on unspecified criminal charges, U.S. officials said.
Mexican officials said they detained Arif Ali Durrani at the behest of the U.S. government.
Officers of their Federal Investigation Agency detained Durrani as he left a restaurant on Benito Juarez Boulevard, the city's main thoroughfare.
Mexican agents also detained four other foreign nationals, three Afghans and a Syrian, in Tijuana, but they were found to be naturalized U.S. citizens
with no link to Durrani, U.S. authorities reported. They eventually were deported back to the United States.
A spokesman for the federal attorney genral's office in Mexico City said that Durrani was wanted in the United States.
"Arif Durrani is facing an arrest warrant in the United States for the crime of international trafficking of anti-aircraft missiles," spokesman Ruben
Aguilar said. "He is a fugitive from U.S. justice."
The attorney general's office said the agents were acting on a tip from U.S. authorities that Durrani was in Rosarito.
Mexico deported Durrani late Wednesday, putting him on the plane to Pakistan that stopped in Los Angeles.
Durrani, 55, was convicted in Connecticut in 1987 on three counts of selling parts for the Hawk antiaircraft missile to Iran. He claimed to have been
acting at the behest of Marine Col. Oliver North in what later became known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
Hawk missiles, which were first developed in the 1950s, were used by Kuwait to shoot down 22 Iraqi warplanes when Saddam Hussein's forces invaded in
1990. Israel used Hawks to shoot down Arab fighters during the Six-Day War in 1967. U.S. forces have never used them in combat.
Durrani was sentenced to ten years in prison. He served five years, then voluntarily left the United States for Paris before eventually turning up in
Mexico.
He is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on criminal charges, according to Dean Boyd of the U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement office in Washington, D.C. Officials in Washington and in Los Angeles would not specify what the charges were Thursday
morning.
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elgatoloco
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Dave
Durrani has a furniture factory and restaurant in Rosarito. He is also the majority owner of a winery in Santo Tomas.
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Can you divulge and still be safe?
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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Anonymous
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Pakistani wanted on U.S. arms trafficking charges
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=re...
By ARTURO SALINAS
ROSARITO, Mexico -- A Pakistani wanted on U.S. missile trafficking charges ran a restaurant in this seaside community outside Tijuana for more than a
year, and neighbors remembered him as "serious, punctual and hardworking."
Arif Durrani was captured earlier this week as he left a restaurant in Playas de Rosarito, near the Tijuana-San Diego border, thanks to information
provided by U.S. authorities. Three Afghan men and a Syrian also were arrested.
The 55-year-old was expelled by Mexico on a flight to Pakistan on Wednesday, but was taken into U.S. custody during a stop in Los Angeles.
At his daily briefing with reporters in Mexico City, Ruben Aguilar, a spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said Durrani was not suspected of
wrongdoing in Mexico, but was considered a fugitive from U.S. justice.
"What is known is that in Mexico he never committed any crime," Aguilar said.
A one-time U.S. resident, Durrani apparently came to Tijuana years ago. He ran a restaurant named after his wife in Playas de Rosarito's Pueblo Viejo
mall.
Gregoria Luna, who works in the mall, said Durrani said "good morning" and "good evening" to those he encountered, but not much else because of his
limited Spanish.
Aguilar said Durrani had crossed from the United States into Mexico, but at the time of his arrest could not provide documents proving he had done so
legally.
Durrani was convicted in the United States in 1987 of selling missile parts to Iran and served five years in a U.S. prison. He claimed to have acted
as part of the Iran-Contra scandal.
Durrani was deported from the United States in 1998 and has apparently lived in Mexico since then.
In 2003, he petitioned a U.S. court to have his conviction overturned and asked to review more government documents in an attempt to prove he sold the
parts at the behest of former Lt. Col. Oliver North and other U.S. officials.
Durrani claims he was part of the U.S. effort to exchange arms for American hostages held in Lebanon. He said North, a former National Security
Council aide, told him to ship the missile parts to Iran and not to worry about getting an export license.
Those arrested at the time Durrani was taken into custody entered Tijuana from the United States. Aguilar said Thursday that the other four were
simply detained on immigration violations "and nothing else."
The five were picked up as federal police and soldiers were deployed over the weekend to reinforce local police struggling against a surge in violence
linked to drug gangs along the Mexico side of the U.S. border.
The Afghans and the Syrian are U.S. citizens or residents and all were expelled to the United States Wednesday.
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elgatoloco
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I wonder what his wife's name is?
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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Dave
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| Quote: | Originally posted by elgatoloco
I wonder what his wife's name is? |
Suzanne.
Duranni was unlucky in that he was caught at a federal checkpoint with a bunch of his homies. I would be surprised if the U.S. actually knew he was
living in Mexico.
This wasn't a cloak and dagger exercise by either nation. Somebody got lucky. He didn't keep a very low profile.
[Edited on 6-17-2005 by Dave]
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surfer jim
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GUILTY...no trial needed....
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Anonymous
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Pakistani man pleads not guilty to illegally exporting jet parts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:54 p.m. June 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES ? A Pakistani man taken into custody last week after he was kicked out of Mexico pleaded not guilty to federal charges of illegally
exporting military jet engine parts, authorities said.
Arif Ali Durrani, 55, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges contained in a 1999 indictment that his now defunct company, Ventura-based Lonestar
Aerospace Inc., illegally shipped 151 compressor blades for General Electric J-85 engines in May 1994.
Durrani faces two counts of exporting the components ? used to cool engines in the "Tiger II" fighter jet and "Talon" trainer aircraft ? without an
export license. Authorities believe the parts were bound for Iran.
Durrani was ordered held without bond pending an Aug. 9 trial. He could face as much as 20 years in prison and a $2 million fine if convicted.
Mexican authorities, acting on a tip from their U.S. counterparts, arrested Durrani last week near the Tijuana-San Diego border for living in the
country illegally. He was deported to Pakistan but was taken into custody by U.S. immigration agents when his flight made a stop in Los Angeles.
Durrani served five years in prison for selling missile parts to Iran in the 1980s. He said his actions were part of the Iran-Contra scandal in which
the United States exchanged arms for U.S. hostages held in Lebanon
After his release from prison in 1992, U.S. immigration authorities sought to deport him, but he left the country voluntarily, apparently settling in
Mexico in 1998.
In 2003, Durrani asked to review government documents in an attempt to prove he sold the parts to Iran in the 1980s at the prompting of U.S.
officials. He also petitioned a U.S. court that year to have his conviction overturned.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050621-1754-ca-ar...
I wonder if they'll bring up Oliver North?
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Anonymous
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On a related note; regarding ACCURACY in news reports...
"...His arrest comes two weeks after Pakistani national Arif Ali Durrani, 55, was also detained in Baja California in response to a US warrant on
charges he was smuggling anti-aircraft missiles. Durrani was officially repatriated to Pakistan via Los Angeles..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1664417,00.html
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